It is conventional practice in construction to pre-wire a structure once framing is completed. The pre-wiring of security systems, speaker wires for home entertainment centers and various communication wires such as telephone wiring and other cabling is a common practice. Generally these wires are placed in ceilings and walls after framing and secured in place by staples or other fasteners. A section of the wire is coiled at the terminus as for example, at the location in which a speaker is to be placed. Construction proceeds and wallboard or sheeting is placed over the framing. When it becomes necessary to attach a device such as a speaker to the wire terminus, several methods are employed. Once method is to pre-measure the approximate location of the wire. When the wall is shut in, the technicians measure to find the approximate location and cut into the wall at that point for the installation of a device such as a speaker. This procedure takes considerable time and is not always accurate and may result in the necessity for subsequent patching work.
Another procedure is the for the technician to connect the exposed opposite ends of the wire to a signal-generating device, sometimes called a tone sender. The technician will then go to the approximate location where the wires are located within the wall and use a locating device such as an inductive amplifier. The inductive amplifier will be receptive to a tone or signal passed through the wire. In this way, the technician can approximately locate the ends of the wires with more accuracy than rough measuring. However, this procedure is not entirely accurate and sometimes necessitates several cuts having to be made and patching may be required. Further, this method of locating wires does not provide the technician with the location of the wall studs. Thus, it may be necessary for the technician to also use a stud a finder once the wires are located to make sure the technician does not cut into the studs and that the opening for the device, such as a speaker, is properly located with respect to the studs.